Soft As Cotton Custard Bread

Fresh & Piping Hot!

≈ Give a man a loaf of bread,

and he eats for 2 days.

Teach him to bake,

and he eats forever ≈

Okaaay.... maybe that's not exactly how the saying goes but, hey, it means the same thing and so absolutely true.

This mission to massacre the English language, stems from my schooldays, the good ol' days when I made my English language teachers climb the walls. I loved mashing the proverbs, sayings and adages, for example: an apple a day, keeps the doctor away.... unless it has a worm in it :D Those were gooood times!

Fast forward.....

You know those times when you walk into a bakery and smell that unmistakeable aroma of freshly baked bread? Mmmmm...I wonder if anyone has ever thought of bottling that as an air freshener for kitchens. Or even the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Double mmmm....

Seriously back on earth....

I found this lovely recipe at "Do What I Like" ... interesting name, don't you think?

I haven't baked any other type of bread for a long while ever since I tried this. It's soooo soft and cottony and with the little hint of vanilla I added to the custard, it is very difficult to not go back for seconds.... and thirds. This is a small enough portion to finish quickly leaving little chance for it to go stale, which is a good thing as there are no preservatives added.

LOAF TIN SIZE : L 8" X W 4" X H 4"

Oil tin, line with parchment and oil parchment

or

just lightly oil a non-stick loaf tin

(I used grapeseed oil)

INGREDIENTS FOR CUSTARD

1 egg yolk

1 tbs sugar

2 tbs bread flour / high protein flour

65 ml fresh milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract / 1/4 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

Put all custard ingredients (except vanilla) into a saucepan and whisk until smooth.

Cook mixture at medium heat, stirring continuously, until it thickens into a paste. Remove from heat.

Stir in vanilla.

Transfer custard into a small bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour.

INGREDIENTS FOR DOUGH

250 g bread flour / high protein flour

2 1/2 tbs caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp quick active dry yeast

2 1/2 tbs milk powder

100 ml water

25 g unsalted butter

METHOD

Mix dough ingredients with the cooled custard until well combined.

Knead dough until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky.

Place dough in a lightly oiled mixing bowl and cover with cling film or a tea towel and leave for an hour, or until doubled in size.

Punch out the dough and knead a little to get rid of air bubbles.

Divide dough into 3 equal portions and shape them into neat little balls. (This part is optional. You can leave it as one big lump like the usual shaped loaf).

Place them side by side in the oiled loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap or tea towel and allow to rise for another hour or until dough rises up to about 3/4 of the loaf pan.

Bake in a preheated oven of 180˚C for 30 mins.

To prevent the top from over-browning, tent bread with aluminum foil after 20 mins into baking.

Unmold immediately when done.

Cool completely before storing.

PS: This is also great for bread pudding!